


Starting Over

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Magical Artifacts, Misses Clause Challenge, Punishment, Sister-Sister Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-02 00:58:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>DG was supposed to rule the OZ when her mother stepped down from being Queen, letting Azkadellia fade into obscurity.</p><p>She was never very good at following her mother's directions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starting Over

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moirariordan (jaegermighty)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaegermighty/gifts).



> Your Yuletide request asked for Cain/DG, but it wound up getting subsumed by the sister relationship. Hope you still enjoy it. :)

After the horrors of the Sorceress ruling the OZ, Azkadellia abdicated her right to ascension before the question was even raised. DG had been so happy after the Witch was destroyed, she never stopped to think about how Azkadellia might feel. She didn't know her sister, after all, and had no reason to think that her smiles and hugs could be anything but genuine. But Azkadellia was shattered, utterly devastated by the years of possession and the cruelty that the Witch had shown her as kindnesses. DG didn't know where Azkadellia was going, and no one knew her well enough anymore to be able to guess.

DG sat alone in one of the palace galleries, not seeing the artwork on the walls. It was simply a room where the myriad nameless courtiers couldn't find her, so she wouldn't have to paste a smile on her face or pretend she knew who they were talking about when they gossiped. Her mother had wanted her to start wearing dresses and act like the picture perfect princess she didn't feel like she was. That kind of princess wouldn't have gotten the OZ into this mess, and that kind of princess wouldn't have been able to get the OZ out of it.

"There you are."

DG whirled around at the sound of Cain's voice. He was in his old Tin Man uniform, looking sharp and self confident. She could see what Adora had seen in him decades ago, and it made her stomach do little flip flops. _Stupid hormones,_ she told herself sternly. He didn't see her that way. She was the woman that coerced him into helping her, then became a friend, if that. He didn't see her in a romantic sense. He couldn't, not when she was closer to his son's age. Funny how she didn't think the age gap was weird here, when usually she thought it was gross back in Kansas. Probably because it felt like their souls were the same age.

"The Queen is worried about you," he said. He waited a beat, seeing no change in her expression. _"I'm_ worried about you."

"Why?" she asked quietly. "Did she ask you to be my bodyguard or something?"

"She didn't have to. I offered."

That took her by surprise. "I would've thought you'd want to be a Tin Man in Central City again. Or spend time with your son."

"He grew up without me. He has a place here."

They both didn't really belong, that much was obvious. As much as it had to have pained him, Cain trying to forge a new path for himself. DG approved, and could only hope she could do the same thing. "So now what's your game plan? What do you do next?"

"I figure you've got something up your sleeve. You wouldn't just sit around and let your mother dress you up in something frilly and difficult to run in."

"Yeah, you've got me pegged," DG replied with a laugh. "So how far are you willing to follow?"

"How far are you planning to run?"

"As far as it takes to find Az."

Cain nodded slowly. "I had a feeling you might want to do that. I didn't start searching the magic community yet, broken as it is. I thought we should go together." He gave her a sardonic smile. "If you say you're looking for a teacher, it's a great excuse to start asking questions."

DG grinned. He really did know her, didn't he? Perhaps he had paid her more attention than she had thought. The flip flopping in her stomach grew to a warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest. If she wasn't careful, she could really fall for this guy.

Well, that wouldn't be a bad thing. He was certainly a man that knew what he was doing.

She took his arm as if he had extended it in a gallant gesture. "Lead on, then. We've got some exploring to do."

***

The magical community had gone underground when the Sorceress rose to power. As a Tin Man years ago, Cain had a few dealings with magic users to help him track suspects. He hadn't really expected them to be in the same place throughout the years, but figured he would get a few clues to their current location. To his surprise, the Gatekeepers were in the same place. Those were witches, usually elders in the community, whose sole purpose was to protect the remaining magic users from the Sorceress' scrying spells and keep them safe from her guards. He had first heard of them by word of mouth, and hadn't ever pressed for more information.

The Gatekeeper on duty was one he had dealt with before, and openly smirked at his shock. "I remember you, Tin Man," she cackled, voice hoarse and scratchy. Her straggly hair was long and white, but her face seemed to be timelessly young. Her eyes were bright blue, with only the faintest shadows beneath them. "So respectful of our ways, even if you didn't always believe. Only the ones that are looking for us without intent to harm can find us. Had your intentions been false today, you would have found nothing."

DG grinned at Cain's obvious surprise. "It's magic, Cain. Just accept it and move on."

"Wise girl. But then, that's what we would hope in the future Queen."

She turned to the Gatekeeper calmly. "I need a teacher."

"And you search for your sister."

Though she blinked in surprise, DG remained silent and didn't press. "A teacher is more important. I need to control my magic."

"Just so." The Gatekeeper nodded. "You wouldn't be able to release your sister anyway."

"Release her?" DG echoed, keeping her voice somewhat even.

It was enough to fool the Gatekeeper, at least. "Oh, yes. She arrived of her own volition, caused quite a stir. But there was no intent to harm, only to be contained. So contain her we did, and will continue to do until her death."

DG grit her teeth and managed to keep from screaming at the Gatekeeper in fury. "Who is the most powerful and skilled witch you know? I've been told I have considerable power, but I have no way to confirm that."

The Gatekeeper paused for a moment, then took DG's palm abruptly. Though she was tempted to snatch her hand back, Cain's steadying touch on her back made her stand still. The old woman ran her fingers along the lines of DG's palm, and unerringly traced the pattern the glow had made there. "Twice the ordinary power, two lifetimes entwined together."

Her mother's power, then. In giving her life again, DG must have also gotten her mother's magical ability. That would explain why she was powerless to stop the Sorceress' rise to power, why she had been trapped so long in a magical cage. Now Azkadellia was in one, and DG would have to tread carefully to rescue her. Even if she didn't want to be rescued.

"Gayelette would be the one to speak to. There's too much for her to look after right now, but you want the best to control that power." The Gatekeeper handed DG a single white feather and then grinned at them. "You two hold on tight. There's a one minute delay before it transports you where you need it to go."

"We could've used that annuals ago," Cain all but growled at the Gatekeeper. He clamped his hand down on DG's shoulder, taking care that he wouldn't get dislodged.

The Gatekeeper laughed, that maddening cackle again. "Oh, but it's easily traceable. Think of it as a small travel storm. There was no safe way to use transportation like this with the Sorceress in charge."

DG opened her mouth to make a reply, but then the world seemed to whirl and shift around her and Cain. It made her so dizzy that she had to shut her eyes to keep from getting nauseous or throw up. Cain may have said something, but it was impossible to tell what it was over the whirlwind of air. She turned toward where he was standing, reaching for him with both hands. He held her tightly, and some of the rising anxiety ebbed a little. She felt safer with him, grounded, as if he could keep her from flying away due to this crazy spell.

When the air died down around them, DG cautiously opened her eyes. She looked up at Cain, giving him a wilted smile. "Looks like we've stopped." She looked around her, making no move to let go of him yet. This didn't happen too often, and she liked the feeling of his solid strength all around her. She might as well bask in the sensation while she had it.

Cain's heart beat was steady next to her ear, and she sighed when he let go of her. "This must be Gayelette's home, then."

It looked as if they were somewhere in the northern reaches of the OZ, with endless stretches of forest to their right and a cozy cabin tucked away in the clearing in front of them. To the left was a steep cliff, dropping down into a vaguely familiar gorge. DG thought she might have seen this area before, but not the cabin. No roads led up to the cabin, so her little traveling party may have passed the area. She looked around, putting a hand above her eyes to block the sun. "No wonder they were able to hide for so long. She lives in the middle of nowhere. The only way to get here is by travel storm, and I'm sure there are spells all over the place."

"Where else would a witch hide?" Cain asked with a shrug. "Central City was a madhouse, and when the Mystic Man succumbed to the vapors and the Sorceress' rule, there was no one else to rise to their defense until you came."

 _And I didn't do enough to save my sister,_ DG thought, staring at the cabin. She couldn't help but feel that Azkadellia was there; her sister would only be contained by a powerful witch, and Gayelette was it as far as the current community was concerned.

She pasted a smile on her face that she didn't feel and looked at Cain, who frowned deeply at her. Damn, he must have seen through it. No matter, they had a job to do.

"Let's go say hello. I'm sure she has a lot to teach me."

***

The woman that answered the door was a tall, slim woman with mocha colored skin and dreadlocks with beads tied into the ends. She wore long, flowing robes in patterned browns and reds, black slippers peeking out from beneath her hem. She smiled warmly at DG, revealing even white teeth like pearls, and her golden brown eyes lit up. "I thought you would arrive sooner or later, Princess. Your sister said you would come looking for her."

The announcement was made baldly, and threw DG for a loop. "Um. Well. I'm guessing you're Gayelette, then," she stammered, nonplused.

"There has always been a Gayelette in the North. Someone has to protect this cardinal direction in the OZ, after all. Generations of witches have kept this area safe, and I intend to continue in that fine tradition." She gestured inside with a grand sweep of her arm. "Please, come inside." Her gaze fell onto Cain, who had stood stoically behind DG. "You will not be able to help her here, Tin Man. It's not your place."

"I'm not here as a Tin Man. Those days are far behind me."

"Oh?" Gayelette seemed genuinely surprised. "But the visions…"

"I'm here as DG's friend," Cain told the witch firmly. He took off his hat and inclined his head slightly as a gesture of respect. "She needs training to control her power, and I'm going to help her find that and stay safe. Her last teacher wasn't particularly helpful."

Gayelette nodded sagely. "Yes. I did see that an annual ago, but there were no signs for me to act upon then."

"Visions?" DG prompted as they all ventured further into the cabin. She had no idea what Azkadellia's prison might look like, or if she was still here. "Is that what led you to hiding?"

"Some of the most dangerous spells are spiritual scrying spells. It's easier to call the results visions. They're not always accurate, but they can give you a good idea of what's coming." Gayelette ventured further into the cabin, which reminded DG a little of her father's. Instead of art supplies, there were polished stones, feathers, crystals, gemstones and randomly placed sticks — no, not random, she decided, but artfully arranged to look random but had to hold some kind of significance. DG thought perhaps these were tools of Gayelette's trade, and she turned around to see the witch staring at her with an unfathomable expression. "You have many reasons for coming here, little one. But there is only one reason I can help you with."

"I need training."

"Yes, you do."

"And I need to find my sister."

"No, you don't."

"It's my fault she's like this! It's my fault she became the Sorceress in the first place, so I have to fix it somehow." There was no point in lying to someone that had visions, right? DG might as well be honest. "I don't deserve to rule this place when I'm the one that ran away and left her there to be possessed. I don't even know how I'm going to start fixing my mistakes, but I have to. I can't just leave her miserable. I have to make it up to her somehow."

It was comforting to feel Cain at her back, his touch light on her elbow. "DG…"

"My mother's priorities are not my own," DG continued, staring at Gayelette intently, hoping that the witch would see the sincerity. "I need to do this. I can't be what everyone wants me to be when I've left this undone."

"Are you doing this for her, or for you?" Gayelette asked quietly.

DG paused, wanting to give her an honest answer. "For both of us," she answered finally. "So we can start over, and she can heal. And maybe she can find it in her to forgive me."

Gayelette approached with a teacup no one had seen her pick up or make, handing it to DG with a kindly expression on her face. "And maybe you can learn to forgive yourself."

Taking the cup, DG rather doubted that. She kept her mouth shut and drank the tea, making Gayelette smile. "Huh. This tastes good."

"Magic, you must understand, is about intent. It's about willpower. Possessing the magic that you do means that your will can be made manifest, that you can change reality. It is a heavy burden to bear when wielded responsibly." Gayelette watched DG take another long drink of the tea, then gestured for her to sit. "Your sister was corrupted. Her skills were taken from her and abused, twisted beyond recognition. She did not learn control in the way that you will. She does not trust the skill she has, and bears a much heavier burden than you do." Cain remained standing behind DG, and Gayelette looked up at him with a faint smile. "Tin Man, could you really help the Princess rebuild? Could you do the hard things necessary as she learns what needs to be done? Starting over again is not an easy task."

"I know," he replied gravely. "I'm doing it myself."

Smiling at them both, Gayelette nodded. "Then perhaps we can do this after all." She looked behind DG and seemed to trace a path through the air with her eyes. A large silver bowl floated in midair, following that path, until it came to rest on the coffee table between the two of them. "You will need to enter this place and confront what you see there."

DG finished the tea and put down the cup, a fine tremor in her hands. "Confront with what?"

"You will have to see for yourself. I cannot give you hints or guide you through it. You will have to see this place for yourself, and when you return to me, we shall begin with the task at hand. Once you return, you will understand the secrecy."

"DG…" Cain began warningly, not liking the turn this was taking.

But she took a breath and held onto the bowl with both hands. No one ever said she thought things through, and that was partly what got her into this mess. "Okay. How do I do this?"

Gayelette's smile was more like a smirk. "Just look. You'll know what to do next."

DG looked down into the silver bowl in her hands, intending to ask what the hell that was supposed to mean. It didn't make sense, and she was on the verge of commenting that OZ magic users were full of mysterious shit.

She didn't get a chance to speak, however. She was too busy getting sucked into the bowl.

***

"Hello?"

DG was standing on a cobblestone path made up of yellow bricks, tall grass growing between the stones. On either side of her, the grass grew tall and wild until it reached the edge of tall trees. They were thick and dense, as if a path had been cleared through the forest, and it hadn't managed yet to retake the cobblestones. Then again, she could almost feel a faint thrum of power in the stones beneath her feet, making her think that quite a bit of magic was involved. Her voice didn't echo, and there was no one nearby to answer her call. With a sigh, DG started in the direction she had been facing when she arrived.

There was no way to tell how long she walked, but she made it through the forest without feeling tired or hungry. Definitely magic at work here. Coming upon a crossroads, she looked up at the signpost. To her left was the Deadly Desert, to her right was Munchkinland and straight ahead was the Emerald City. Azkadellia wouldn't be in a desert, would stick out amongst munchkins and definitely wouldn't feel comfortable in a city any longer. DG wanted to stamp her feet in frustration, because this was _stupid._ Why was this even happening?

Hand glowing, DG let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. The glow was brightest straight ahead, so she continued along the path toward Emerald City. Azkadellia might not be comfortable there, but it would at least have more hiding places.

Walking usually made her tired, but DG kept going at a steady rate until she reached the city gates; she knew better than to wander from the path into other dark forests or the bright fields of red flowers. She wasn't here to explore, she was here to find her sister. Somehow, she knew to follow the pull of her magic. It had always been strongest when she was close to her sister, so that had to be what was leading her forward.

DG had been wearing Doc Martens, jeans, a plain yellow T-shirt and a leather jacket when she had arrived in this place and began walking along the yellow road. As she passed through the Emerald City gates, her clothes changed into a green sheath dress, sparkling green shoes and long green evening gloves that went up past her elbows. There was no one at the gate to stop her from entering, no one along the streets to ask her who she was or what she was doing there. It also meant no one could give her directions to find Azkadellia. She continued walking in seemingly random directions until she found a building that resembled the Mystic Man's club in Central City. She went inside and found people sitting at tables waiting for a show to start, much as patrons had been in Central City. Everyone was dressed in green, some with glasses that had green lenses, and for a moment DG didn't know what to do.

Azkadellia was seated at the far end of the club, facing the stage as she drank a fizzy drink with a green umbrella tucked into it. She hadn't noticed DG enter the club, but she noticed when DG sat down across from her. Panic bloomed across her features, and the sheer terror there tore at DG's heart. _I did that,_ she couldn't help but think. _That's my fault._

"Az," DG said softly, reaching for her sister. She tried not to cry when Azkadellia pulled away. "I've come to bring you home."

Lips twisting into a grimace, Azkadellia shook her head. "You don't understand, Deeg. I _am_ home. This is where I belong."

"No, you don't—"

"I kept Mother in a scrying bowl for years," Azkadellia said abruptly. "I'd visit her, taunt her, torture her… _That_ is who I am. Whatever you think of me, it isn't true."

"I think I was a horrible sister," DG said quietly, hands still lying across the table. Azkadellia didn't reach for her, didn't touch her. "I left you when you needed me. _I left you._ I can't ever make that up to you, I can't. But I want to try, and I want to be your sister. I want to be the person you need me to be."

"You're going to rule the OZ," Azkadellia said sharply. "You don't need me."

DG could hear the hurt in Azkadellia's voice, the angry twelve year old girl that she had been once upon a time. DG's adventures had a way of getting her into trouble, because she was supposed to know better. She was the older one, the one that was supposed to be in charge. DG hadn't listened to her, had always plunged ahead without thinking.

And now, so many years later, it was still happening. The difference was, now DG was aware of it, and was intent on changing that script.

"I do need you," DG whispered, voice breaking. "I don't know them, those people that are supposed to be my parents. My parents were Hank and Emily."

"And I erased them."

"The Sorceress did that."

_"I was the Sorceress."_

"No, the witch took over…"

"I didn't fight her very hard after a while," Azkadellia said, voice flat. "Why should I, when she was right? You were dead, but Mother gave up most of her soul to bring you back. She didn't even look at me, not once, didn't even question what had happened. Mother never did a thing to figure out why I would do that. She never raised a hand to me, never lifted a finger to discipline me. She gave me free rein, and I took it. When I took control, it was a token resistance at best. She didn't care about me, Deeg, only you."

DG reacted as if slapped, recoiling and shaking her head to deny that. "No, she couldn't. No mother could treat her daughter that way. There had to be a reason…"

Azkadellia looked on her in pity. "You're trying to defend someone you don't know, just like you've been trying to defend me. I deserve to be here, Deeg. I killed people. Sometimes I even enjoyed it. Power is… addictive. It's seductive. Once you've had a taste of it, you can't let it go. You can't be someone else again."

Too late, DG remembered Gayelette telling her that Azkadellia's magic was corrupted. "If you could learn something different…"

"Why would I want to?" Her hand curled up to the bare expanse of her chest. "Out there, I'm alone. They were my children, those creatures. Their heartbeats were in my skin, woven into my very soul. She took pieces of me and wound them into the creatures to give them life, to anchor them into this world. I'm fractured now, and I feel it out there. In here, I'm contained. I'm safe. I can't do you any further harm."

"Gayelette put you in here, but you're stronger than you think. She can teach you other ways of magic, other ways to feel whole."

"She can't," Azkadellia said simply, shaking her head. "There's nothing she can teach me. You can't get what you want this time, Deeg."

"I just want you happy," DG whispered, tears brimming in her eyes. "I ruined everything, and I want you to be happy again."

Azkadellia's expression softened, and she reached across to touch DG's hands gently. "I know. But you can't fix me. I'm too broken for that."

DG shook her head and scrubbed at her eyes with one hand hastily, like a child. "No, I can't believe that. I refuse to believe that. There has to be something. There has to be some way, so you can come home, you can have the family you deserve."

"I do," she said quietly, letting go of DG's remaining hand. "This is exactly what I deserve."

 _"No."_ DG grasped Azkadellia's hands, and her magical glow flared to life. _"This_ is what you deserve. Getting to know each other again, figuring out who we are now and what we want out of life… _This_ is what you deserve. Not loneliness or emptiness. If the witch shredded your soul, then you can take some of mine."

Azkadellia's eyes widened as DG's palm glowed like a magnesium flare. "No, you can't—"

"It's my soul, I can do with it what I damn well please," DG said fiercely. "If I broke it, I have to fix it. I'm taking responsibility for what I did when I was six." Her voice broke a little as tears flowed freely. "Take what you need, Az. I want you whole. I want you happy. You're my sister. I have to know you'll be okay."

Visibly shaken, Azkadellia tried to pull away. DG wouldn't let her go, and her own palm flared to life in response. "What if I take it all?" she whispered, voice breaking.

"My life was yours to take then, it's yours to take now."

"I _can't,"_ Azkadellia insisted, shaking her head and starting to sob. "I can't do that to you again, DG, I _can't."_

"You _can._ Take what you need," DG whispered. Distantly, she wondered if it would hurt; she had been asleep the last time. Too late for that now, really.

A hiccup, a sniffle, and then Azkadellia inhaled sharply.

It felt like something tugging inside of DG's chest, a ripping inside of her ribcage. She remembered the tattoos that had been in Azkadellia's skin, and tried to imagine what separating the creatures or the witch from her during the double eclipse must have felt like. Was it this kind of sharp, tearing pain? Her breath caught in her chest, but she didn't dare move or let go of Azkadellia. She had to see this through, however it was going to end.

After a short eternity, Azkadellia shut her lips and sagged forward against the table, knocking over her drink and spilling its contents. DG found it easier to focus on that for a moment as she tried to get her bearings. Her hand was still locked to Azkadellia's, but the glow was starting to dim. "Az?" she croaked.

Azkadellia sucked in a ragged breath before picking her head up and looking at DG in wonder. "I didn't think I would be able to stop. I thought I was going to kill you."

"You didn't."

"You couldn't have known I wouldn't!"

DG grinned at her, pain forgotten. Her soul felt lighter, as if it fit her body better this way. "Of course you wouldn't have. You're my sister, and we love each other."

Azkadellia gave a sharp bark of disbelieving laughter, but didn't contradict her. That had to be a promising sign. Before she could speak, a waiter approached with a tray to mop up the mess on the table and collect the empty glass. "Can I get you ladies anything else?" he asked, sounding very similar to Glitch.

The similarity was enough to get DG laughing a little. God, how Azkadellia must have missed everyone to recreate it here. "Yeah. How 'bout a ticket outta here?"

The waiter looked confused, but Azkadellia nodded for him. "I can do that."

As the world around them seemed to shimmer, DG held on tightly to Azkadellia. _We will make this work,_ she thought fiercely.

***

Cain had his gun out and trained on Gayelette's chest when Azkadellia and DG reappeared on the couch in front of her. His hand jerked slightly, but he didn't shoot the witch, covering the startled move by bringing his arm up so that the gun pointed at the ceiling. "What was that all about?" he growled, reaching for DG with his free hand. DG grasped it immediately, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"I had asked Gayelette to keep me contained," Azkadellia answered for DG. "I thought that would be safest for everyone's sake."

"But it's not," DG said firmly. She had one hand on Azkadellia's arm and was still clutching tightly to Cain's hand, reluctant to let go. "You needed a reminder that you're not the Sorceress and you're not completely evil. You're my sister."

Azkadellia clearly didn't share DG's optimism, but wasn't about to openly contest that in front of Gayelette and Cain. "Well. I'm here."

"Yes. And you can train us both, can't you?" DG asked Gayelette with a bright smile. "We both need to learn how to use our magic properly. Either one of us is a loose cannon right now."

Gayelette rose and glided past Cain to pick up a very large and thick book made of parchment bound in black leather. "We will first need to assess what skills you have now. Then I will determine what the best path to take is."

Cain tried to work his fingers loose from DG's grip as Gayelette spoke. "I don't think you need me for this part," he said with a sigh when she refused to let go.

"I do," she insisted, looking up at him with her large blue eyes. "I always will."

It was more than just learning magic, and she hoped he understood that. He was so good at picking up signals, he had to have picked up this one, too.

Apparently he did, because his stance relaxed and he let out a long, slow breath. "Oh."

Gayelette chuckled as she watched over them. "The Princess has chosen her Consort. I wonder if the Queen knows."

"Don't know and don't care," DG said, turning to face Gayelette. Her tone was lighthearted, but there was a core of steel behind it as well. This was the same determination that led her to defeat the Witch at the double eclipse and try to save her sister. She could make her own decisions and learn to do magic. She could learn to be the Princess that the OZ needed, even if the Queen didn't agree.

Putting the book down over the silver scrying bowl, Gayelette smiled. "It seems as though everything is starting over from the beginning, is it not?"

"That's the idea," DG agreed with an answering smile.

"I look forward to the future," Gayelette replied, sitting down regally. "I hadn't been certain those visions would come true before, but perhaps now they will."

Taking that as a positive sign, DG grinned even wider. "Well, then. Let's begin. I can't wait to make it all happen."

The End


End file.
